Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

I thought this book was hard to get into at first, up to chapter six...
-Guardian

Synopsis

Stuart Horten (ten, but looks younger) is now the owner of a magician's workshop - except that without his Great-Uncle's Last Will and Testament, he can't actually prove it. Which is a problem, since someone else wants it as well; someone who has a lot of money. The workshop contains seven magnificent stage illusions, but when Stuart starts to investigate them, he discovers that each is the gateway to a magical adventure, with a puzzle to solve, and a clue to extract. As the clues mount up, the adventures become riskier. Friendship is strained, and danger looms and Stuart has to decide what sort of prize he really, truly wants.

This is Lissa's first fiction book for Random House Children's Books, but she has written books for adults and younger children. After a brief career in medicine, and then in stand-up comedy, Lissa became a comedy producer, first for radio and then in television. She lives with her family in north London.